Colchicum and Other Blooms
Wherever you live, I hope you’re able to enjoy the beautiful blooms of those fall perennials called Colchicum.
I love Colchicum and have grown them in my gardens for many years. Colchicum produces such cheerful colors when most other plants have faded and are going dormant. Many of mine are from Brent and Becky's in Gloucester, Virginia. I am so happy these plants are flourishing and have multiplied in numbers.
Here are some photos of my colchicum and some of the other blooms that are still going strong in the gardens, enjoy.
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- The common name for Colchicum is autumn crocus, but they are not true autumn crocus because there are many species of true crocus which are autumn blooming. Also, Colchicum flowers have six stamens while crocuses have only three.
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- Colchicum is a member of the botanical family Colchicaceae and is native to West Asia, Europe, parts of the Mediterranean coast, down the East African coast to South Africa and the Western Cape.
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- Colchicum corms are pretty large, with waxy, dark-brown, leathery skin. When selecting Colchicum corms, look for ones that are firm, dense, and heavy. We planted a number of colchicum corms a couple of years ago.
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- The scientific name comes from Colchis, a region on the coast of the Black Sea. The name Colchicum alludes to the poisonous qualities of the species. The plant contains an alkaloid known as colchicine, which is found in all parts, but mostly in the seeds. Colchicum typically blooms from September to November. Here are some flowers just beginning to open.
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- And then once open, Colchicums produce large, goblet-like blooms in shades of pink, violet or white. They are large striking flower heads, with white at the base leading to pale pink at the apex.
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- Some of the varieties we’ve planted include ‘Lilac Wonder’, ‘Waterlily’, ‘Dick Trotter’, Colchicum byzantinum, and Colchicum bornmuelleri. This one is “Waterlily” – a double petaled cultivar.
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- When the weather is mild, colchicum’s nearly perfect cup-shape flowers begin to unfurl. Most Colchicum plants produce their flowers without any foliage. This is why these flowers were first known by the common name “naked boys.” In the Victorian era, they were also called “naked ladies.”
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- Colchicums are quite delicate but spread nicely in the autumn garden. Colchicum is a good pollen source for bees in fall when little else is available for them. And, because Colchicums are toxic, they provide a natural way to repel animals such as deer, mice, squirrels, and moles.
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- Over the years, they’ve multiplied in numbers. These line the carriage road near my front gate. I love how they dot the garden with pops of bright pink – guests always stop to look at them. And If we’re lucky, some of these blooms will last into November.
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- Growing just outside my flower garden are these charming anemones. Also known as Japanese thimbleweed, Japanese anemone, Anemone hupehensis, is a tall, stately perennial that produces saucer-shaped flowers in shades of creamy pink to pure white, each with a green button in the center. Look for blooms to appear throughout summer and fall, often until the first frost.
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- Here are some white anemones blooming in my Stewartia garden across from my long clematis pergola. Although Japanese anemone plants tolerate full sunlight, they appreciate a lightly shaded area where they are protected from intense afternoon heat and sun.
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- In my flower garden, Coreopsis, or tickseed, is an extremely adaptable and easy growing perennial. Coreopsis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. It develops mass quantities of yellow, orange, rose, lavender, white, or bi-colored blooms. Coreopsis is sun-loving, drought-tolerant and highly attractive to hungry butterflies.
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- Nicotiana is a genus of herbaceous plants and shrubs of the family Solanaceae that is indigenous to the Americas, Australia, southwest Africa and the South Pacific.
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- Heliotrope flowers are long bloomers that open in summer and last through the first frost. It is a plant of the borage family, cultivated for its fragrant purple or blue flowers, which are used in perfumes.
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- Rudbeckias are easy-to-grow perennials featuring golden, daisylike flowers with black or purple centers. It is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family, native to Eastern and Central North America. It has alternate, mostly basal leaves 10 to 18 centimeters long, covered by coarse hair, with stout branching stems and daisy-like, composite flower heads appearing in late summer and early autumn.
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- And there’s still some phlox blooming in my garden. Phlox ‘Robert Poore’ is magenta in color with superb heat and mildew resistance. This is a tall and upright grower that’s great for the back of a border, or even planted at the edge of a garden among shrubs.
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- Phlox also comes in a range of colors from pure white to lavender to even red, and grows happily in most parts of the country. If properly planted and sited, phlox is largely pest and disease free too – a perfect perennial.
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- A few of the roes in my flower garden are still going strong. Hard to resist the delicate beauty of a rose.
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- Ageratum houstonianum, a native of Mexico, is among the most commonly planted ageratum variety. Ageratums have soft, round, fluffy flowers in various shades of blue, pink or white – with blue being most common.
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- Here is a white Ageratum. Often called Floss Flower, this compact plant can be easily grown from seeds. Ageratum plants are vigorous, free-flowering, fully branched and mounded.
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- My flower cutting garden is filled with these blooms. It grows quickly and blooms continuously throughout the summer and into early autumn. What flowers are still growing in your gardens? Share them with me below.
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